London,Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you reap health benefits like stress reduction and a decrease in a woman's fear of childbirth, according to researchers.
A new report from Manchester University researchers finds that it can ease stress and reduce women's fear of childbirth by a third, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
In addition to its many other health benefits for pregnant women, including reduced cortisol levels, less difficult birth plus more full term and healthy weight neonates, pregnancy yoga is a low cost intervention too.
Yoga teacher Natasha Harding has two children that she delivered naturally using her skills in the art.
"Yoga is a wonderful exercise to try during pregnancy, when you naturally want to take it a bit easier. It's ideal to ease many of the ailments that women suffer from when they're pregnant such as backache, sciatica and general aches and pains,” she said.
“By maintaining a regular yoga practice during pregnancy the positions will become second nature with the aim being that the woman can have a more active labour with less intervention.
“My second baby was born in 51 minutes. It was because of the fact I did yoga every single day and felt so strong during the birth,” he added.
Harding's five favourite yoga poses to try every day while you're expecting:
